Chelsea vs Ipswich Prediction: Neto can spark Blues to crucial win

Chelsea continue their pursuit of a top-four berth in the Premier League when they welcome struggling Ipswich Town to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon (14:00 BST). Enzo Maresca's Blues have one foot in the semi-finals of the Conference League after Thursday's 3-0 win over Legia Warsaw but have won just one of their last three fixtures in the Premier League.

As for Ipswich, their faint hopes of Premier League survival were surely ended in an agonising 2-1 defeat to Wolves last Saturday, despite the Tractor Boys having led until the 72nd minute at Portman Road. Below you can find my Chelsea vs Ipswich predictions. 

Team News

Chelsea will be without defender Wesley Fofana, who is out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, while Romeo Lavia and Marc Guiu are also sidelined.

Omari Hutchinson will be assessed for Ipswich due to a hamstring problem but the Tractor Boys will definitely be without Wes Burns, Sammie Szmodics, Chiedozie Ogbene and Arijanet Muric.

Chelsea vs Ipswich Odds

Chelsea are 1/4 favourites to win this clash at Stamford Bridge, while an Ipswich win is 10/1 and the draw is 11/2.

Goals are expected with over 2.5 goals rated 4/9 with under that mark priced at 7/4.

Football Odds

Chelsea to win and both teams to score @ 6/4

Goals have been at a premium in Chelsea's recent games with their last four Premier League assignments producing a total of three goals.

But three of those games were tense London derbies against Arsenal, Tottenham and Brentford and Sunday's clash with Ipswich should be more free-flowing.

Ipswich may be heading for a return to the Championship but their matches since the turn of the year have at least provided entertainment with both teams scoring in 10 of their last 11 fixtures.

Most recently they went down 2-1 against Wolves and that will have hurt given they led for most of the game and came close to narrowing the gap between them and their 17th-placed opponents to just six points.

Instead the gap between Ipswich and safety has been stretched to 12 points and the Tractor Boys will just be playing for pride at this stage.

But that means they can approach their remaining games as free hits and a bet on Chelsea to win and both teams to score looks like a worthy option.

Pedro Neto to score anytime @ 8/5

There are several Chelsea players worth considering in the goalscorer markets for this contest but Pedro Neto could be a value pick at 8/5.

Neto has scored just three times in the Premier League this season but he should start this contest with the Blues likely to rotate and he was lively against Brentford last time out.

In the 0-0 draw with the Bees, Neto managed four shots, two of which were on target, and he could cause even more problems for a permeable Ipswich defence which has leaked 65 goals this season.

Offers

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Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down

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